Accused Ross Valley Sanitary District former general manager returned to Marin, booked into county jail

Brett Richards, the fugitive former general manager of the Ross Valley Sanitary District arrested July 11 in the Philippines, has been returned to Marin County. He was booked into county jail Saturday morning on charges of embezzlement and money laundering and was being held on $1 million bail.

After his arrest by Philippine National Police at Moalboal, Cebu, he was subsequently held in the Philippine Bureau of Immigration detention processing center in Manila while he awaited proceedings to return him to the United States.

The 45-year-old Richards is accused of diverting $350,000 in public funds that was loaned to him for housing.

In July 2012, he abruptly resigned from his $197,000-a-year job and dropped from sight. In March, the Marin District Attorney's Office filed nine felony charges of misappropriation of public funds, money laundering and embezzlement against him. A federal "unlawful flight to avoid prosecution" warrant was then issued for his arrest, allowing the FBI to work with Philippine law enforcement in the search for him.

District Attorney Ed Berberian said his office tracked Richards to the Philippines using financial records obtained through a court order.